Bihar Intermediate Result 2011 – BIEC Result 2011 – Bihar Intermediate 12th Result 2011 Available Online on June 5 Sunday, June 5, 2011

Bihar Intermediate result 2011 declared just now. BIEC result 2011 is published on the official website. Bihar Intermediate (class 12th) result 2011 is available online on June 5, 2011.

Bihar Intermediate result 2011 can be checked at: http://www.biharonline.gov.in/bseb/ entering roll code and roll number.

BIEC result 2011 is declared on 5th June, 2011. The result is made available by official website of Bihar School Examination Board.

You can get BIEC 2011 results through SMS also. You need to send to 54333 typing bi space s (for science) and c (for commerce) space roll code and space roll number.

Intermediate results 2011 Bihar can be checked at: http://results.bihareducation.net/ also selecting examination and entering roll code and roll number.

BIEC result 2011 is declared after a long wait. It is the 12th exam result 2011 of Bihar Intermediate Examination Council, Patna. You can check BIEC commerce and arts 2011 results at: http://www.indiaresults.com/ also clicking on right link.

Now, you can check Bihar Intermediate result 2011 online. You can check HPBOSE Plus One result 2011 also.


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Jaipuria College Kolkata

Jaipuria College in Kolkata was formed in June, 1945 by the family of Jaipuria in Kolkata. The college was established in the memory of Seth Anandram Jaipuria and offers admission to students from all communities. Jaipuria College runs three shifts per day one in the morning which is meant only for girls another one is the day shift for both boys and girls and the third is the night shift for boys only of the commerce stream. Jaipuria College is affiliated to the University of Calcutta so that it imparts guidelines to students of B.A., B.Sc and B. Com.

When it comes to choosing a career, many students are left with several questions to ask themselves. What is the best career for me? If by chance the career that I choose is not successful in me will I be able to change it? Which career can find me a job? These are some of the questions which many students are left asking themselves in times of choosing a career path. When it comes to choosing a career there are two kinds of people. One of this is the group which includes those people who have clear objectives right from day one. The other lots are those who are not certain as to how to steer the lives. It is normally very difficult to choose the right path when it comes to choosing a career. Choosing a career is a lifetime decision and so no one wants to mess with this vital decision that has an impact on one’s life. When selecting a career it is important that you select from the field of your interest.

There are various career opportunities that are offered in India. You can find the best career opportunities in so many sectors including air force, modeling, film making, foreign languages, medical, advertising, public relations, journalism, mass communication, tourism, hotel industry and several others. By selecting a correct career means that your economical and social stability are enhanced. Jaipuria College is one of the India’s universities offering its students different professional courses. If you get admission to this university you can get a bachelor’s or masters in any field like Masters in Business Management, Bachelor of Engineering, Bachelor of Education, Bachelor of Science, Master of Arts etc. Once you have completed one of these courses, excellent career opportunities are awaiting you in different areas like hospital, banks, multi-national companies, educational institutes etc.

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Baba Ramdev arrested in Delhi, Sent Dehradun

Yoga guru Baba Ramdev was arrested Sunday morning by the New Delhi police from the stage when he was sleeping with his followers and sent to dehradun from Palam Airport, Delhi. Baba Ramdev landed Joligrant Airport of Dehradun by Special Plane by Govt. Delhi Police served an externment order on Baba Ramdev and Section 144 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which prevents unlawful assembly of five or more persons, was imposed. Police sources say the order was issued after Baba Ramdev used the Ramlila Ground for staging a hunger strike against corruption instead of a yoga camp. Sources have told News 24 that Baba Ramdev was detained and sent to Haridwar, but Home Secretary GK Pillai says the yoga icon voluntarily left Delhi. Sources say that Ramdev has sought the intervention of the Chief Justice of India. PTI reports also suggest that at least 30 people were injured in the police action in Ramlila Grounds.
Eyewitness accounts suggest Baba Ramdev was sleeping on the stage when the police reached; they woke him up to tell him that they are here to escort him out of the area. But Baba Ramdev jumped off the stage and went amidst his supporters. When he again reached the dais, cops tried to zero in, and that is when all hell broke loose. Supporters first formed a ring around Baba Ramdev to prevent him from being arrested, and then started throwing stones at the policemen. Some of the protesters were injured in the incident. Torn banners, mattresses and broken furniture lay all over the site. Parts of the stage also caught a minor fire that broke out during the melee. The cops fired tear gas to disperse the crowd. And within minutes, Ramlila Ground, the crowded epicenter of Baba Ramdev`s protest against corruption where thousands had gathered to fast along with the yoga icon, wore a deserted look.

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AIEEE Result - AIEEE Results 2011-AIEEE 2011 result to be declared today at 1PM

AIEEE results will be available on http://cbseresults.nic.in...

AIEEE Results 2011 will be announced on Today June 5, 2011 by the CBSE. AIEEE, All India Engineering Entrance Examination is the gateway for admission into 1st semester of first years of professional degree courses Engineering, Pharmacy and Architecture offered through various colleges across the country. A lot of people objected to the declaration of the AIEEE 2011 Results and AIEEE Results 2011. However, declaration of AIEEE Results was cleared by the Supreme Court. Students who appeared in AIEEE 2011 and finds a place in the AIEEE Merit List prepared by CBSE, will be called for counseling for final offer of admission by the CCB.

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News | Videos | Gossip | Bollywood | Hollywood | Jobs: Mack Michaels - Maverick Money Makers

News | Videos | Gossip | Bollywood | Hollywood | Jobs: Mack Michaels - Maverick Money Makers: "'This System Makes Me At Least $171,168.06 Per Month And You Can Start Using It 15 Minutes From Now'... All of these benefits ... and mor..."

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News | Videos | Gossip | Bollywood | Hollywood | Jobs: The Khan Academy

The Khan Academy: "jurvetson / Flickr Salman Khan's library of free instructional videos has reached millions of people, and now his videos are reaching int..."

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News | Videos | Gossip | Bollywood | Hollywood | Jobs: TBSE Results 2011 for Tripura Board Higher Seconda...

News | Videos | Gossip | Bollywood | Hollywood | Jobs: TBSE Results 2011 for Tripura Board Higher Seconda...: "Tripura Board of Secondary Education (TBSE) has published Higher Secondary Examination (H.S. +2 Stage) Examination Results 2011. TBSE High..."

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News | Videos | Gossip | Bollywood | Hollywood | Jobs: WBCHSE Result 2011 for Class 12 Examination Today ...

News | Videos | Gossip | Bollywood | Hollywood | Jobs: WBCHSE Result 2011 for Class 12 Examination Today ...: "West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education (WBCHSE) Class 12th (Higher Secondary) Examination Results 2011 will be announced on 4th J..."

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News | Videos | Gossip | Bollywood | Hollywood | Jobs: After IPL, it's CCL!

News | Videos | Gossip | Bollywood | Hollywood | Jobs: After IPL, it's CCL!: "THE RHINOS ARE READY: Kollywood celebs are all set for CCL. Photo: Special Arrangement The Celebrity Cricket League is here. And guess wh..."

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News | Videos | Gossip | Bollywood | Hollywood | Jobs: Osama's Fifth Wife !!

News | Videos | Gossip | Bollywood | Hollywood | Jobs: Osama's Fifth Wife !!: "Poor woman. Imagine her predicament. First, she gets married off at age 17, to a man who is 25 years her senior. He also happens to be the..."

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News | Videos | Gossip | Bollywood | Hollywood | Jobs: Mack Michaels - Maverick Money Makers

News | Videos | Gossip | Bollywood | Hollywood | Jobs: Mack Michaels - Maverick Money Makers: "'This System Makes Me At Least $171,168.06 Per Month And You Can Start Using It 15 Minutes From Now'... All of these benefits ... and mor..."

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News | Videos | Gossip | Bollywood | Hollywood | Jobs: The Khan Academy

News | Videos | Gossip | Bollywood | Hollywood | Jobs: The Khan Academy: "jurvetson / Flickr Salman Khan's library of free instructional videos has reached millions of people, and now his videos are reaching int..."

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News | Videos | Gossip | Bollywood | Hollywood | Jobs: TBSE Results 2011 for Tripura Board Higher Seconda...

News | Videos | Gossip | Bollywood | Hollywood | Jobs: TBSE Results 2011 for Tripura Board Higher Seconda...: "Tripura Board of Secondary Education (TBSE) has published Higher Secondary Examination (H.S. +2 Stage) Examination Results 2011. TBSE High..."

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News | Videos | Gossip | Bollywood | Hollywood | Jobs: WBCHSE Result 2011 for Class 12 Examination Today ...

News | Videos | Gossip | Bollywood | Hollywood | Jobs: WBCHSE Result 2011 for Class 12 Examination Today ...: "West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education (WBCHSE) Class 12th (Higher Secondary) Examination Results 2011 will be announced on 4th J..."

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Nhpc Recruitment 2011

India (DLN): NHPC invites applications for recruitment 2011 of Trainee Engineers/Officers. NHPC Online Registration will be open from 9-30 May 2011


1.    Trainee Engineer (Civil): 90 vacancies. Qualification required is Full time regular BE /B.Tech in Civil Engineering with minimum 60% marks. Maximum age limit is 30 years.
2.    Trainee Engineer (Electrical): 90 vacancies. Qualification required is Full time regular BE /B.Tech in Electrical, Electrical & Electronics Engineering with minimum 60% marks. Maximum age limit is 30 years.
3.    Trainee Engineer (Mechanical): 60 vacancies. Qualification required is Full time regular BE /B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering with minimum 60% marks. Maximum age limit is 33 years.
4.    Medical Officer: 9 vacancies. Qualification required is MBBS Degree with valid registration. Experience of 2 years’ post Internship experience is required. Maximum age limit is 33 years.
5.    Trainee Officer (HR): 14 vacancies. Qualification required is two years full time regular Post Graduate Degree / Post Graduate Diploma in Personnel Management or MBA / MSW with specialization in Personnel Management & Industrial Relations with minimum 60% marks. Maximum age limit is 30 years.
6.    Trainee Officer (Law): 10 vacancies. Qualification required is Full time regular Graduate Degree in Law (Professional) with minimum 60% marks. Maximum age limit is 30 years.
7.    Trainee Officer (Company Secretary): 3 vacancies. Qualification required is Graduation with Membership of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India with minimum 60% marks. Maximum age limit is 30 years.
8.    Assistant Hindi Officer: 10 vacancies. Qualification required is Master’s degree in Hindi with English as an elective subject at the degree level or Master’s degree in English with Hindi as an elective subject at the degree level. Maximum age limit is 35 years. Experience required as details in notice.
9.    Hindi Translator: 10 vacancies. Qualification required is Master’s degree in Hindi with English as an elective subject at the degree level or Master’s degree in English with Hindi as an elective subject at the degree level. Maximum age limit is 30 years. Experience required as details in notice.
10.Trainee Officer (HR): Qualification required is 2 years full time regular Post Graduate Degree / Post Graduate Diploma in Personnel Management or MBA / MSW with specialization in Personnel Management & Industrial Relations with minimum 50% marks or equivalent grade.
11.Stenographer Gr. III: Qualification required is Graduation with 80 w.p.m. speed in English/Hindi Shorthand and 40 w.p.m. speed in 29 Yrs. Experience of 2 years’ post qualification experience in relevant field is required. Computer literacy is essential.
12. Stenographer Gr. II: Qualification required is Graduation with 100/80 w.p.m. speed in English/Hindi Shorthand and 40 w.p.m. speed in English/Hindi typing. Experience of 5 years’ post qualification experience in Govt./PSU/Public Ltd. Company is required out of which 2 years service in the immediate lower scale of pay 13500-3%-29500 (IDA) or equivalent scale in relevant field. Computer literacy is essential. Maximum age limit is 32 Yrs.
13. Medical: Qualification required is MBBS Degree with valid registration. Experience of 2 years’ post Internship experience is required. Max age limit is 33 Yrs.
14.Trainee Officer (Finance): Qualification required is CA/ICWA qualified. Max age limit is 30 Yrs.
Application fee is Rs.250. No fee for SC/ST/PwD candidates. Applications should be sent to “Post Box No. 364 at Amar Nagar Post Office, Faridabad – 121003 (Haryana)” before 14th June 2011.
For other details regarding NHPC India Recruitment 2011 refer to this link of its official website: [URL="http://www.dailylatestresults.com/wp-content/uploads/RecruitmentViewDocpdf.pdf"]NHPC Recruitment 2011[/URL]


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Sourav Ganguly to play for Pune

May 3, 2011 9:22 AM | By Reuters 

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Former India captain Sourav Ganguly, who went unsold in the players’ auction, has been signed up by debutants Pune Warriors for the remainder of the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) fourth season, a team official said on Tuesday.

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Captain Sourav Ganguly of MCC organises his field during the T20 International Friendly match between MCC and Pakistan at Lords on June 27, 2010 in London, England
Credit: Getty Images

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Ganguly, 38, played for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the first three editions of the IPL and has been roped in by the Pune outfit as a replacement for injured paceman Ashish Nehra, who was ruled out with a finger injury.

“We signed him up yesterday night. We were in touch with Sourav but we were waiting for Nehra’s report which arrived yesterday,” Pune team director Abhijit Sarkar told Reuters on Tuesday.

“He will join us as soon as possible and start practising with the team. The team management will decide when he will take the field for us.”

The Yuvraj Singh-led Pune Warriors, languishing at the bottom of the table after six losses on the trot, will play table toppers Mumbai Indians at Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday.

Lefthander Ganguly, who is one of India’s most prolific batsmen and retired from international cricket in 2008, was listed with a base price of $400000 in the players’ auction.

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Karur Vysya Bank | Karur Vysya Bank Online Application | Karur Vysya Bank Job | Karur Vysya Bank Probationary Officer Scale | KVB Application | KVB Recruitment | www.kvb.co.in

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Karur Vysya Bank (KVB) invites applications for appointment in Probationary Officer Scale-I.

Post Graduate / B.E. / B.Tech from recognized University with 60 percent and above marks can apply. Correspondence and Open Universities degree candidates are not eligible. 50 percent for SC/ST candidates.

Further details about the Karur Vysya Bank (KVB) recruitment and online application log on to:
http://www.kvb.co.in/AdminUpload/Proboff_2009.asp

KVB Bank Website: http://www.kvb.co.in

MHADA | MHADA 2011 | MHADA FORMS 2011 MHADA LOTTERY

MHADA Forms 2011 Available with Detailed Broucher

Maharashtra Housing Area Development Authority (MHADA) has published MHADA Forms 2011 with detailed Broucher. Details can be checked in Advertisement and Broucher of MHADA flats.

At the MHADA website, advertisement for purchase of private lands in Pune Region advertisement for purchase of houses in Nagpur Region, Santranagari are available with Broucher/Form.

In Pune, MHADA Flats are available at Satara, Kolhapur, Sangali, Solapur Districts and in Nagpur Region at Santranagari.

Advertisement for purchase of private lands in Mumbai Metropolitian Region, advertisement for plots at various places at Akola in Amravati Board, advertisement for plots at various places at Badnera in Amravati Board are available at MHADA official website.

For MHADA Forms 2011 with brouchre are available at download at the following links of MHADA Website:

For MHADA Nagpur Flats Advertisement click at the following link: MHADA

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APGENCO | APGENCO RESULTS 2011 | APGENCO SUB ENGINEER RESULT 2011 | APGENCO RESULTS

Andhra Pradesh (DLN): Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corporation Ltd (APGENCO) has announced Sub Engineers  Results 2011 against Notification No.4/CGM(Adm)/2010.

APGENCO Results 2011 can be checked here online. Just enter your Hallticket Number and Date of Birth to get results here at the link given below here of the official website of APGENCO.

The marks of Zone-IV candidates will be revealed later as per info available at the website. For these candidates results will be available after completion of By-Election process in Kadapa District.

Applicants are required to submit the Documents for verification. These candidates are requested to submit the attested photocopies of the documents. The documents should reach to “The O/o Chief General Manager (Administration), Room No.250, ‘A’ Block, Vidyuth Soudha, Khairathabad, Hyderabad- 500 082”. Last date for receipt of documents is 10th May 2011 by 5.00 P.M.

List of Candidates for Certificate Verification for the Post of Trainee Sub-Engineer can be checked at the following given links:
Trainee Sub Engineer – Electrical
Trainee Sub Engineer – Mechanical
Trainee Sub Engineer – Electronics
Trainee Sub Engineer – Civil

Instructions are available at the following link for candidates who have to submit the documents for verifications: Click Here

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John James Audubon painting in Google doodle

John James Audubon and his paintings are the subject of worldwide discussion on Tuesday (April 26) as search engine Google superimposed the French-American ornithologist and painter's works on its logo to mark his birthday.

Audubon was born on April 26, 1785 in present day Haiti and was raised in France but he embraced the newly-formed United States of America. His seminal work, Birds of America, contains over 700 bird species from North America. He died in January 1851.


Google is celebrating the 226th birthday of John James Audubon, the French-American ornithologist, artist, and naturalist with a special logo. Fitting that Google is honoring Audubon, considering that in his day Audubon had a Google-like mission to paint every bird species in North America (Google's mission today is, obviously, much larger: to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful).

Just as Audubon had a love of nature, Google also has been showing its "green" side, with massive investments in solar and wind energy. Google this year, as has been tradition for the past 10 years, also tried to raise awareness of the environment with a special Earth Day logo April 22.
Audubon made a major contribution to our knowledge of birds and is very worthy of this honor. The simple logo appears to be influenced by his bird paintings.
Audubon, born on April 26, 1785, was also well known for his paintings of 435 varieties of birds in "Birds of America." A complete copy of the first edition of "Birds of America" was sold in London, setting a record auction price -- £7,321,250 ($11.5 million) -- for a printed book on Dec. 6, 2010.
His life was dedicated to the painting, classifying, and descriptions of the birds of the world. Gathering information from as many sources as he could find, Audubon mapped the habitats of American birds.
This quote, attributed to Audubon, sums it up best: "I know that I am not a scholar, but meantime I am aware that no man living knows better than I do the habits of our birds."
The impact of his work can best be seen in the references to him in the works of Charles Darwin.
Apart from being the inspiration for The Audubon Society established in 1905, there are numerous towns, parks, and bridges throughout the U.S. bearing his name, including John James Audubon State Park in Kentucky.
Wonder if Twitter will also opt to also celebrate this milestone, given their bird association?

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A trip back -- way back -- to Mt. Athos and the 10th century

A trip back -- way back -- to Mt. Athos and the 10th century

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

By Neil Averitt, Chicago Tribune

Welcome to the Monastic Republic of Holy Mt. Athos. Please set your calendar back a thousand years.
Clocks here run on Byzantine time, which starts at sunset. Dates are calculated according to the Julian calendar of the Roman Empire, which differs by 13 days from the modern Gregorian calendar you're used to. Some settlements are supplied solely by mule teams, and the flag of Byzantium still flies.
Radio? Television? Newspapers? Paved roads? If they didn't exist in the year 972, you probably won't find them here.


And if you're a woman, you'd better make other plans. Females have been strictly forbidden here for a thousand years. Not even female animals are permitted.
Mt. Athos is an Eastern Orthodox monastic republic and, astonishingly, a surviving administrative unit of the Byzantine Empire -- a fully functioning mini-state with roads, settlements and a capital city, all operating under a charter granted by the Byzantine emperor at Constantinople in 972.
That world is preserved here in great detail and texture. Clothes, music, roads, public fountains, aqueducts, arched stone bridges, vegetable plots -- all are from another age. Even the shiniest new chapel is built with traditional Byzantine-style brickwork, the product of a living culture.
Legally speaking, Mt. Athos is an autonomous region in northeast Greece, with most characteristics of an independent state. Visitors must show passports on the way in and undergo customs inspections on the way out.
Psychologically and geographically speaking, it's a world apart. It's perched on a hilly, heavily forested peninsula -- 6 miles wide and 35 miles long -- which terminates in the peak of Mt. Athos itself, a sharply pointed, bare rock, 6,700 feet high, that drops steeply into the Aegean. Scattered over this rugged landscape are 20 large monasteries, a dozen smaller communities, innumerable hermitages and 2,000 monks. The whole place is reachable only by boat.
This exotic little state has many features of a truly great travel destination: grand architecture, hiking trails along clifftops or through virgin forests, guest rooms in monasteries, meals of fresh natural foods, and a chance to talk with wise and thoughtful men about the nature of the good life and the state of your soul.
And no one can justly complain about the price: In the tradition of monastic hospitality, each monastery offers two meals and a night's lodging for free, then sends you on your way. You can spend a week at Mt. Athos, as I recently did, without spending a dime.
That is, if they'll admit you in the first place.
Mt. Athos guards its isolation and discourages casual visitors. To be admitted, I had to prepare a letter for the central Pilgrims' Bureau explaining why I wanted to go there. Fortunately, I had a decent reason: After years of legal practice, I was ready for a seriously non-materialistic pilgrimage. I was granted one of 10 permits issued each day for non-Orthodox visitors.
Mt. Athos is the spiritual center of the Eastern Orthodox world. Visitors need not be Orthodox themselves, but it helps to get in if they have religious or spiritual purposes in mind.
I got my permission to visit Mt. Athos last May, and entered, as most visitors do, through the town of Ouranopolis, a honky-tonk resort 75 miles southeast of Thessaloniki. This is the end of the road from the outside world. There I showed my entry papers and boarded a ferry for the two-hour ride along the coast to the little town of Daphne, the port of Mt. Athos.
From Daphne visitors can transfer to another ferry that serves the monasteries further along the coast, or set off on one of the walking trails, or use the simple but efficient system of buses and minivans. The ferry is more pleasant than the minivans, since it cruises only a hundred yards or so off a beautiful coastline and doesn't throw up clouds of dust. But the best plan is to entirely leave public transportation a bit before your destination, and walk the last couple of hours to get into a proper pilgrim's frame of mind. That's what I usually did.
The most striking piece of architecture is the monastery of Simonopetra, where I stayed the first night. It sits on an outcrop of rock a thousand feet above the sea and rises like a fortress, with the bottom 40 feet of its walls blank stone. But the topmost floors are open with a vengeance: Four stories of decidedly rickety-looking wooden balconies run all the way around the building. Walking on the balconies provides an early test of one's faith and serenity. There are gaps between the floorboards, and it's a loooong way down.
Like most of the monasteries, Simonopetra is filled with the sounds of heavy renovation. Just 30 years ago it appeared that Athos was about to die out. The buildings were in disrepair, and most of the monks were old. Today, however, the average age has fallen to something closer to 40, young monks are common, and many of the new entrants are highly educated. One is a former Harvard professor.
This turnaround is attributed in part to the arrival of a new generation of charismatic leaders (some of them fleeing from places like Meteora that had become too touristy for monastic practice), and in part to organizational changes that shifted several monasteries over to a more communal and tightly organized way of life.
It was at Simonopetra that I began to learn the basic routine on Mt. Athos: A monk passes through each monastery courtyard at 3:30 a.m., tapping a distinctive rhythm on a wooden board called a talanton to wake everyone for 4 a.m. services, which begin in total darkness and run for three hours as the candlelit church slowly brightens into daylight.
After breakfast there's a ferry ride or a few hours' hike to the next monastery. There you have a meeting with the host monk, who greets visitors, offers the traditional welcome of jellied candy and cool water, and explains the layout and schedule of the monastery. Ninety percent of pilgrims are Greek, but most guestmasters speak at least a little English.
Then there are a few quiet hours to explore, talk with the monks, attend afternoon services and have dinner. After more free time and an early bedtime at 9:30 p.m., a visitor enjoys the smooth and easy sleep of a stress-free life.
At Simonopetra I also encountered the role that relics play in Orthodox tradition. The monastery had many, including what is believed to be the left hand of Mary Magdalene. Those could be kissed, or touched by crosses that the visitors had brought with them.
My next day's destination was the Danieleon -- not a monastery, but a free-standing house for five or 10 monks, located at the extreme end of the peninsula in a rugged area without roads. I caught a ferry, then toiled up a series of steep switchbacks under the hot sun for an hour. Then, at last, relief: a terrace, a walkway under a cool and shady arbor, flower beds and a view over the Aegean.
The monks at the Danieleon are famous for their expert chanting. They start in the morning darkness, in a little chapel dimly lit with a few small olive-oil lamps, some shining through containers of colored glass. They're shadowy shapes, nothing more. But in this darkness comes a sonorous, complex, humming harmony of many voices, soothing and otherworldly, a perfect accompaniment to three hours of meditation.
Not everything was sweetness and light. At dinnertime the night before, I had been sent outside with the command "exo, exo" (outside, outside) and ate by myself at a table on the terrace. This was presumably because I was non-Orthodox. The non-Orthodox are sometimes sent to secondary places on Athos, particularly during church services. However, the monks did invite me into the chapel for the morning service, which was the important thing.
The monasteries varied widely in their approach to this issue, with some involving the non-Orthodox on equal terms, some seating them in the outside hall, and some keeping them farther back in the church porch -- yes, in the exonarthex. In all cases where a distinction was made, however, it was done kindly and with the explanation that there was an injunction against praying with people who were not members of the church.
Next on my journey was Grigoriou, a midsize monastery on the rocks just above the sea. It's noted for the friendliness of its monks: Benches and kiosks on the grounds are arranged for easy conversation. Visitors gather around the monks in twos and threes, talking quietly, often comparing Orthodoxy and Western Christianity.


A novice at one of the monasteries -- a former teacher of classics -- explained that Western churches often take positions on issues of social justice. The Orthodox church, by contrast, sees itself more as a "hospital for souls," concerned primarily with the individual's inner peace and his relationship to God. It sees itself as "a religion of the heart," and tries to induce spirituality through more directly aesthetic means, such as the chants, incense, candles and, most importantly, the services in the quietest hour of the night when the heart is most open.
Monastery food is always plain and fresh, but varies in its sophistication. Some places serve a simple bowl of lentils; others offer artichoke hearts in lemon sauce. Dinner at Grigoriou ended with an excellent chocolate torte.
The monastery of Vatopedi is definitely at the urbane end of the scale. It's one of the largest on the mountain, with a courtyard that looks like the center of an Italian Renaissance town. One of the monks told me that Britain's Prince Charles, a regular visitor to Mt. Athos, had been a guest there earlier in the month.
Vatopedi stands in an area of rolling agricultural land, rather than on steep cliffs. An easy walk leads past farmhouses and along country lanes, where a sense of bone-deep peace lies on the land. You can hear the rush of birds' wings and the hum of bees in a flowering tree.
I was reminded of a conversation a few days previously with an English monk named Father Damian, who had stopped by Grigoriou as a visitor and ended up staying there. He recommended the line from Psalms, "Be still and know that I am God."
One thing notably absent from this landscape is the feminine touch. Partly this is a consequence of monastic status, for Mt. Athos is basically a cooperative of private monasteries. Another reason is a belief that Christ gave the peninsula to his mother, Mary, to be her private garden, and other women are excluded to more distinctively honor the Virgin Mary.
The exclusion of women is, naturally, controversial. The European Parliament has endorsed a report containing a paragraph that suggests this is a violation of women's rights.
The Greek government has responded that the special status of Mt. Athos was recognized in conjunction with the treaty by which Greece joined the European Union in the first place.
There have been a few exceptions to the ban. During the Greek Civil War, Mt. Athos granted sanctuary to refugees, including women and girls. And in the 1930s a Greek beauty queen named Aliki Diplarakou, who had won the Miss Europe title, dressed up as a man and sneaked in.
For the male visitor, there are some benefits. The absence of women seems to ease communication among the men and to heighten introspection by removing not sexual tensions precisely, but a layer of social complexities that would otherwise demand attention.
The ban also protects a shared mood among the visitors. Now they consist of those willing to focus on the spiritual experience, and they share that bond. Many fear that if the ban were removed, Mt. Athos would become a tourist destination like any other, its distinctive atmosphere lost.
As my week wound down, I realized that a kind of "spiritual detox" had taken place. I felt I had been on Mt. Athos long enough when I began to look forward to the pre-dawn ritual, when I accepted with contentment whatever portion of food was offered and when I felt no particular compulsion to learn the latest news. I did, however, miss the reliable hot showers of the outside world.
On the way back to the ferry and the mainland, I passed through the town of Karyes, the administrative seat of Mt. Athos and, with a population of about 350, surely the smallest and dustiest capital in Europe. The main street has a few general stores. Pack mules are a common sight. But I was able to buy a candy bar there.
Arriving back in Ouranopolis, I experienced a brief culture shock: Women! Children! Cars! Crowds! I soon adjusted, but the memory of Athos lingered. And I had packed a Byzantine flag as a souvenir.

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